tweaking a gold sunburst

 I ordered a sunburst mirror from One Kings Lane for over our new upholstered bed. 

I liked it immediately out of the box and the size was perfect but there was a problem. The gold accents in the room were clashing. Not that everything has to be matchy matchy but the gold tone of the sunburst was green gold, the frames and mirror on a nearby wall were pink/ orangish gold, the pair of sconce reading lams on either side of the bed were shiny yellow brass. Too much. What to do?  My new hobby...paint it!  Annie Sloan chalk paint and Rub n Buff to the rescue.

I had Annie Sloan Country Grey left in the quart can after painting five different projects things with it so I got to work quickly, painting one heavy coat and then waxing with a lot of pressure to reveal some of the gold leaf underneath. The gold trim surround that was not painted, was rubbed with a combination of Rub N Buff Gold Leaf and Antique Gold, which were close to the color of the other frames in the room. 

 The colors look quite different here but all are pink toned.

I still am not thrilled with the shiny brass sconces on the same wall as the sunburst, may change those with the Rub N Buff too but they don't scream "fix me immediately" like the sunburst did. You can see them in the glare in the reflection of the mirror. What about your home? Are there any projects going on? I know I am a happier person when I am being creative and working with my hands!

chalk painting

I have been having fun painting furniture this winter, using Annie Sloan chalk paint. Like millions of others, I am now a huge fan. There are so many reasons to love her paint.  Just google and thousands of tutorials, videos and reviews will come up. I got started after reading a post by my friend, the very talented DIYer, Pam of Simple Details blog. She wrote a post about transforming old outdated armoires. I had one of those! 

I uncharacteristically caught the bug to paint and started researching. Annie Sloan paint kept coming up and sounded too good to be true- no prep! I found a source, chose a basic light shade, Old Ochre and a can of the clear wax and started painting. I was finished with the armoire in a few hours, I used less than half of the quart sized can and it came out great! I was hooked.

I have since added brass knobs from Anthro. 

I then purchased a can of Country Grey for some variety, which is more of a khaki, 

and with just two quarts of light paint have been moving through the house, trying to add variety to each room by reducing the amount of "brown furniture" and furniture that might have been more suited to one of our earlier homes. Still too much brown in this house as you can see but getting better (convincing husband is part of the process).  This lamp is painted in Country Grey. There is the picture my Uncle Murray took, that story is still continuing. More on that later.

I have since painted a coffee table, two side tables, a baker's rack, two lamps (you can paint glass, brass, any surface with chalk paint) and last week this little tray table next to the couch in the family room. I still have paint left in both cans! Added a gold leaf design to it for interest. Excuse the glare.

  I just purchased Graphite 

and am painting a wood kitchen table/possible desk for our son to use in a college apartment when the time comes. It is not black but a very dark blue grey that is a really attractive color, richer than straight black. 

Here is her color range. I get excited looking at it! Mulling over Emile 

or probably a lightened Emile for a side table in our bedroom. The stockist closest to me has painted pieces in the store to see, very valuable as some colors looks different once painted and waxed. For instance, Henrietta paint is too pink for our room, glad there was a table in the store for me to see. Also ordered Versailles, 

a soft lemony sage and Coco, 

a warm dark putty, not sure how I will use them, just liked the colors.

Have you tried Annie Sloan paint? Come on, paint something this winter while you are hibernating!